Autographic register



Oct. 31, 1 939. J E U 2,178,036-

AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER Filed Sept. 4, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet l rad 62220,

:70/z7aZZ'zzZ/z J E. EUTH AUTOGRAPHI C REGI STER Oct. 31, 1939.

Filed Sept. 4, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Get. 31, 3939.

AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER 7 Filed Sept. 4, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 J E. EUTH AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER Oct. 31, 1939.

Filed Sept. 4, 1957 4 Shets-Sheet 4 JfiZd/ZZZ rfokizzizz 27g Patented a. 31, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOGRAPHIG REGISTER linois Application September4. 1937, Serial No. 162,527

9 Claims.

This invention relates to autographic registers and more particularly to an improved arrangement of compartments in the casing whereby the continuous record strip may be refolded in zigzag '5 form, directly beneath the platen of the machine.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved machine having a movable guide-member and refold mechanism, driven in timed relation to the feed-mechanism and disposed directly beneath the platen in the rear of the machine.

A further object of the invention is to locate the supply compartment in front of the platen so that no guide roller is needed adjacent to the 16 front end of the platen and there is only one curl of the stationery in the supply compartment at any time. Most of the time the paper is drawn in a practically direct path. This feature makes it easier for the refold mechanism to operate successfully.

A further object of the invention is to provide a movable guide-member which is constantly in contact with the advancing stationery to direct it forwardly or at least deflect it forwardly not less than 90 from its path of travel over the platen.

Another object of the invention is to provide a refold mechanism whereinthe stationery may be admitted from one end of the compartment and a pair of presser-members are provided to compress the folds in the stationery.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a broken plan view of a machine embodying the invention, with the skeleton cover in its open position; Fig,- 2, a longitudinal sectional view, taken as indicated at line 2 of Fig. 1; v Fig. 3, a broken side elevational view of the machine showing the slide door for removing the contents of the record compartment; Fig. 4. a broken front elevational view of the machine with the gear cover removed; Fig. 5, a broken longitudinal sectional view similar to Fig. 2. showing the guide-member in a different position; and Fig. 6, a broken side elevational view of the gearing on the side opposite from the crank.

In the embodiment illustrated A designates a register casing provided with a supply compartment A, a record compartment A provided with an overlying platen A and a skeleton cover A; B, feed-mechanism for advancing stationery from the supply compartment A one form length at a time; C, guide-mechanism fordirecting the refolding of the record strip; and D, refold mechanism.

The casing A may be of any suitable construction and one of the advantages of the present invention is in that the machine does not require the height heretofore needed in registers having the positive refold mechanism. The casing has a bottom wall I provided with suitable legs 8 and a removable abutment 9 which may divide the easing into a supply compartment A and a record compartment A The compartments have side walls I0 and end Walls II. As best shown in Fig. 3, one of the side walls H) of the record compartment A is provided with a forwardly sliding door I2 which permits the record stationery to be withdrawn without opening the cover A As shown in Fig. 1, a conventional carbon roll canister i3 is provided on one side of the casing. The platen A is pivotally mounted on the top of the casing and forms a closure for the record compartment. A carbon protecting device M, of conventional construction, is provided at the rear of the platen and separates the original stationery strip 15 from the record strip it as it advances over the platen from the supply packet ll of zig- Zag folded continuous-form stationery. At the rear of the platen is provided a fixed guidemember I8 having a sharpened lower edge l9 which is adapted to serve as a tear-off edge when it is desired to remove the record strips from the machine. A pivotally mounted guide tongue 20 serves to separate the original copy strip from the record strip at the rear of the machine. Below the tongue member is another fixed guide-member 2| which directs the advancing record strip into contact with the movable guide-member C.

The skeleton cover A is pivo-tally mounted on the register casing, as indicated at 22, and covers substantially all of the top of the casing except for a cut-out portion 23 which permits access to stationery disposed over the platen A The cover has the usual leaf springs 24 for smoothing the advancing stationery in front of the platen and has a pair of latches 25 and 23 for holding the cover in its closed position. The rear end of the cover is provided with a housing 2'! for the feedmechanism. As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, the rear edge of the housing is sharpened to provide a tear-off edge 28 for the original strip. When the stationery has been properly advanced into writing position over the platen, the lines of weakening 29 in the original strip and record strip will be in alignment with the tear-off edges 19 and 28.

The feed-mechanism B is of-well-known construction and is known in the trade as the Shoup- Oliver type having a pair of upper feed disks 3G and lower feed disks 3i which are geared together by means of gears 3 l and advance a form length of stationery until register perforations 32 reach the bite. Suitable restarter mechanism, not shown, is provided in the well understood manner. The rolls are driven by means of a drive shaft 33 provided with a hand crank 35 having at one end a train of gears 35 for operating a cam 36 and holding a latching device 37 depressed so that the crank can make two revolutions during each cycle of operation. The latch serves to lock the crank after it completes the second revoiution, in the well-known manner. The other end of the crank shaft 33 provided with a driving gear 38 (see Fig. 6) which drives a cam gear 39 provided for the operation of the retold pressermembers. The gear 3.? drives gear 48 of the shaft 4! to rotate the feed disks 351 and 35. Gear 35) is provided with a fixed gear 42 having half as many teeth as a cam gear 43.

A loading indicator is slidably mounted on the casing and is raised and lowered by the cam gear 43 so that it moves to either its upper or lower position alternateiy during each advance of a form-length of stationery. In order to obtain the best operation of the refold mechanism it is desirable that the record strip be refolded along the lines of weakening with the same direction of fold as originally employed in the supply packet ll. Usually the forms are numbered consecutively and the odd numbered forms are always printed to lie in the packet with the same relation to the direction of fold. The operator is instructed, in loading the machine, to see that the indicator 44 is up when odd numbered forms are over the platen, or down when even numbered forms are in position. This assures the r-eiold mechanism being properly timed with respect to the direction of fold and it is unnecessary for the operator to open up the record compartment to determine proper loading.

As stated above, one of the novel features of the present invention is to completely reverse the direction of travel of the record strip and positively refold it directly beneath the platen. To accomplish this the oscillating guide-member C cooperates with the presser-mechanism D. The guide-member comprises the plate 45 which is pivotally mounted on the casing at 46 and is oscillated in timed relation to the operation of the feed-mechanism by means of a cam 50 which is driven by the gear 43. The rock member 48 is pivotally mounted on the lower portion of the casing indicated at 49 and has a stud 47 which is held in engagement with the cam 50 by means of a spring 5|. The upper end of the rock member 48 is linked to guide plate 45 by means of a pitman 52. As the gear 43 and cam 50 only make a half a revolution during each cycle of operation, the cam 55 has two projections so that the guide-member C is operated every cycle of operation which advances the stationery one formlength.

The presser-mechanism D has two parts. The first part comprises a U-shaped member which is pivotally mounted on the cross shaft 53 and extends forwardly and downwardly into contact with the front portion of the refolded packet. The U-shaped member may be formed by means of a pair of side arms 54 provided at their lower end with a cross bar 55. The member is urged downwardly by means of a spring 56 and is moved upwardly against the action of the spring by means of a rock member 51 which extends through a slot 58 in the easing into contact with a roller 59 provided on the gear 39. The front end of the rocker member is linked to one of the arms 54 by means of a pitman 65. As shown in Fig. 2, the lower side of the platen is provided with a fixed abutment 6! which provides a recess into which the cross bar 55 may swing out of contact with folds in the stationery which may happen to billow upwardly. This assures the presser-member coming in contact with the uppermost form.

The rear presser-member comprises a U- shaped forwardly extending member 62 which is fixed to a rock shaft 63 and is urged downwardly by torsion spring 64. One end of the rock shaft :33 is provided with an operating arm which is adapted to be operated during every alternate cycle of operations by a roller 66 provided at the lower end of an arm 61 pivotally mounted at the top of the casing as indicated at 68. The arm 61 is provided with a stud 69 which is adapted to be engaged by a cam lug 1D. The lug 10 is shaped so that the presser-member G2 is raised gradually and released with a snap so as to quickly engage the fold which is forced back under its normal position. The record compartment is provided with a fixed abutment H and sufficient space is provided between the top of said abutment and the movable guide-member C that the rear presser-member can swing upwardly between the two and out of engagement with the stationery.

To load the machine the stationery strips are drawn from the supply compartment over the platen, and in interleaved relation with the carbon strips to a position with the first set of register perforations in the bite of the feed disks. It being understood, of course, that if the first set of forms bears an even number the feed mechanism will have been rotated until the indicator 44 is down. The record strip l6 has its end portion directed under the pivoted divider 20 and the original strip has its front end over said divider. The upper fed disks are then brought down into contact with the lower disks and the skeleton cover closed and latched to make the machine ready for operation.

After making notations on the forms in writing position, the operator depresses the latch 31 and rotates the crank 34 two complete revolutions until it is again stopped by the latch 31. During the first half of the revolution the pressermember 52 will be raised and the end of the advancing record strip will turn downwardly and rearwardly against the abutment H. At this time the presser-member will snap down and grip the end of the strip. As the feed continues the record form will feed in and curl forwardly in the record compartment as the front pressermember is gradually raised and lowered. The operator may sever the original strips by pulling them upwardly aginst the tear-off edge 68. After the next set of forms have been filled in, the crank operations are repeated and the record form will continue to feed into the compartment so that its front fold may be near the abutment 9. As the operations are repeated the record strip is refolded and compressed in the record compartment in the form of a neat packet. When it is desired to remove the record strips the door I2 is slid forwardly and the pressermember 55 raised so that the operator may grasp the packet. By pulling the packet outwardly,

the record strips will be severed along the tearoif edge it, as will be readily understood.

It is sometimes desirable to provide a large supply of forms in a machine rather than to utilize the record compartment. This can be done in the present machine by merely removing the abutment 9 and placing half of a large packet in the rear of the machine which is connected to the bottom form of that portion of the packet which is in the front of the casing. In like manner double length forms can be used, if desired.

The present arrangement provides a very convenient arm rest over the supply compartment and this facilitates the operator performing the writing operations. As will be readily understood, a suitable knife (not shown) may be provided to automatically sever the original or top strip, but this is not necessary.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible, in view of the prior art.

I claim:

1. An autographic register comprising: a casing having a platen and an underlying record compartment; feed-mechanism at the rear of said platen for drawing and aligning continuous-form stationery over said platen and projecting it into said compartment; and guide-mechanism in the rear including a movable guide-member driven in timed relation to the feed-mechanism of the record compartment for continuously reversing the direction of travel of said stationery and directing it into continuous zigzag folded horizontal form-lengths.

2. A device as specified in claim 1 including a pair of presser-members in the record compartment driven by the feed-mechanism to compress the folds in the refolded continuous strip.

3. An autographic register comprising: a casing having a platen and an underlying record compartment; feeding and aligning mechanism at the rear of said platen for drawing continuousform stationery over said platen and projecting it into the rear of said compartment; and refold mechanism in said record compartment driven in timed relation to the feed-mechanism so as to zigzag fold the stationery into form-lengths, said mechanism comprising a movable guidemember and movable presser-member which are moved as each form-length is fed into the compartment, and a rear presser-member which is moved as each alternate form-length is introduced therein.

4. An autographic register comprising: a rec- 0rd compartment provided with a superposed platen and feed-mechanism at the rear of said platen; a movable guide-member in the rear of said compartment driven in timed relation to the feed-mechanism to direct refolding into form-lengths stationery entering the compartment; a fixed guide-member in the compartment to guide record stationery into contact with said movable guide-member; a companion guidemember having its lower edge sharpened to form a tear-off edge for severing the record stationcry; and front and rear presser-members driven in timed relation to the feed-mechanism to compress the folds in the refolded stationery.

5. A device as specified in claim 4, in which both of the presser-members are U-shaped and are pivotally mounted so as to extend forwardly into contact with the stationery.

6. A device as specified in claim 4, the record compartment is provided with fixed abutments, and the presser-memb-ers are mounted so as to oscillate intermittently from in contact with the stationery to a position shielded from contact by said abutments.

7. A device as specified in claim 4, the record compartment is provided with fixed abutments, and the rear presser-member is mounted to oscillate intermittently from in contact with the stationery to a position in rear of the movable guide-member and a rear fixed abutment.

8. An autographic register comprising: a casing divided into a front supply compartment and a rear record compartment; a platen disposed over said record compartment; feeding and aligning mechanism disposed at the rear of the platen over the rear of the record compartment to ad- Vance one form length of stationery strips, during each cycle of operation, from a horizontal zigzag folded pack in the supply compartment to the rear of the record compartment; a refold mechanism in said record compartment, driven in timed relation to the feeding and aligning mechanism, for continuously reversing the advance of a record strip and refolding it into a horizontal zigzag folded pack of form length.

9. An autographic register comprising: 2. record compartment provided with a superposed platen and feed-mechanism at the rear of said platen, a movable guide-member in rear of said compartment driven in timed relation to the feedmechanism to direct refolding into form lengths stationery entering the compartment; a fixed guide-member in the compartment to guide record stationery into contact with said movable guide-member, and front and rear presser-members driven in timed relation to the feed-members to compress the folds in the refolded stationery.

JOHN E. EUTI-I.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,17 ,0 6. October 1, 19 9.

JOHN E. EUTH. I

7 It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, second column, lines 5 and 66, for the word "fed" read feed; page 5, first column,- line 55, claim l, after "rear" insert the words and comma oi the record compartment, lines 511 and55, strike out the words "of the record compartment" and insert instead a comma; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

I Signed and sealed this 2nd day of January, A. D. 19110.

Henry Van Arsdale,

(Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

